Former Senior Care COO Sentenced For Fraud Scheme

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Another former high-level executive at Indianapolis-based American Senior Communities has been sentenced to 57 months in prison in a $19 million fraud case. Filings submitted by United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Josh Minkler suggest Daniel Benson, who was chief operating officer, was key in "the sweeping conspiracy" that involved theft from the ASC owners, the Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County and the state’s Medicaid system. At the end of last month, former Chief Executive Officer James Burkhart received a nine-and-a-half-year sentence for his role as "mastermind" along with co-defendants Benson, Joshua Burkhart and Steven Ganote.

The crimes, the filings say, involved "brazen criminal conduct" that included accepting kickbacks from ASC vendors and taking cuts from fraudulent shell companies. In December, Benson pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit mail, wire and health care fraud (Count 1), conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute and money laundering. Joshua Burkhart and Steven Ganote will be sentenced in the coming weeks.